Two questions about the cost report:

How is everyone coming along? Has everyone started, and if so, is anyone done yet?

Secondly, I'm curious to know what the lowest cost was last year. Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks everyone and good luck getting the cost report done!

I am about 3/4 done (All suspension, Chassis, and wheel assemblies)...and sooooo sick of it. I really find it difficult to try to account for as much as there is. Trying to remember what sizes you need to drill out with first to tap or counterbore, wich fasteners you use and do they have nuts, safety wire, washers, etc...

I havent figured out the lowest cost last year, but if you have your cost sheet from last year just back - calculate from the formula listed. I wish I had our score in that section here, then I could calculate it for you.

Brent

I am pretty sure the low cost last year was just under $9,500. I am not sure what team this was but Michigan State won the Cost competition last year with 96.36 points out of 100, so they must have been pretty close to this minimum price.

Our cost report is 90% done, and our car is 75% done.
As a first year team I want to say this: the cost report blows.

As a 14th year team I want to say this: the cost report blows!

As a fourth year team....
Has anybody gone crazy yet? I think the guy who is heading up our cost report will be in serious need of a beer or ten by time he gets it sent off.

Actually Luke is doing pretty well considering the guy who headed it up last year went from , progressed through and finally to . And that was in a good hour.

so at the comp last year...

im chatting to the cost judge, trying to be friendly and funny.

and i start hinting that "this event blows"..

i eventually ask him "how did you draw the short straw... and end up being a cost judge"

he replies.. "this is what i do all day at Mitsubishi"

we didn't get a very good mark

Hey to all,

How much fun is the cost report...

Just have a question. I am in charge of the suspension area and not too sure how to do it. Take and A arm for example, it consists of a spherical bearing house, pull rod attachment, tubes, circlip, bearing and the top and bottom arms have different rod end attachments. Do do a process description for the whole A arm or do i break it down into all of the sub components, i.e. bearing housing etc and then put in an assembly price for the whole control arm? I am sorry but i am quite confused. Maybe it is really obvious and i am just bamboozled.

Cheers in anticipation

Olly

Oz - you've started your cost report already? Which is your first competition? I'm in charge of all of the administrative stuff for our team and I am on track to start it next semester...

MRacer_girl

I have just finished competing in the Australian comp. I think our report was due in October or something like that. Seems my methodology was liked by the judges in the end. We scored really well in every category except for cost of vehicle, i guess honesty is for losers. .

Cheers

Olly
UNSW@ADFA

Olly - good to hear. Do you have any tips for a FSAE newbie in regards to the cost report? I'm not going to lie - I'm a little nervous about the whole thing and I really don't want to let my team down.

Get team members started now on making a detailed bill of materials with labour, fasteners, assemblies, and sub assemblies, and parts and all for each thing they are working on. It will allow you to sleep in the upcoming nights to the cost report due date, and you will do better in it.

Yeah, I would have to agree with Martin. Make the team members who are building/ buying the different parts do it as you go it makes it so much easier. You can do all the materials and fasteners stuff before you make it anyway. Also make a few people on your team write up the manufacturing descriptions for the different parts prior to the comp and make sure they rehearse and are very familiar with the topic. If you want to do really well then you will have to compromise your integrity.

Cheers

Olly
UNSW@ADFA

quote:

Originally posted by raska:
Get team members started now on making a detailed bill of materials with labour, fasteners, assemblies, and sub assemblies, and parts and all for each thing they are working on. It will allow you to sleep in the upcoming nights to the cost report due date, and you will do better in it.

Don't forget to structure your design process to provide your team members with target masses for the sub-systems. They can then track component masses alongside the costs to make sure you're on target. Beats running two BOMs separately for design and cost purposes...

Regards, Ian

Thanks for all the responses! I appreicate the help. Happy Holidays everyone!

I hate that thing, and I'm the team's resident business major. This will be my 4th year working on the cost report and 2nd year of leading it.

For the first timers: don't get too depressed after your first report. The cost report becomes easier after the first time (but still boring).

Also, be prepared to defend your report at competition. The judges will almost always try to ding you on something or another, but if you hold your ground and are in the right, you will likely get your points back. (For example we were almost nailed on costing our differential. The judges thought we purchased our Torsen, when we actually manufacture it in-house)

This might be fairly obvious, but remember alot of your cost report depends on your car's cost. Whenever you have a new design or cool new gadget perform a cost/benefit analysis on the new toy. Expensive add-ons may help you a little in the dynamic events, but may kill you in the Cost report, lowering your overall score. We ended up with a fairly inexpensive car @ 13,279 USD and a 5th place score in that event.

what have other teams' final cost been like (I know they're all b.s.) and what kind of score has that resulted in? Hope I'm not asking too much...I'm new to FSAE and I'm trying to get a feel for how this is going to go.

Also, what kinds of questions did you get at either the cost event or business presentation? Thank you!

Gabi,

Price is only a portion of the final cost score. Out of the 100 points for the cost event, only 30 of that is based on the final price of the car. The rest is based on the report, process sheets and write ups, documentation and the manufacturing discussion at the event.

Thus, you could have the lowest priced car in the field, but do quite poorly in the final tally.

Anyhow, our final price was certainly among the lowest out of all competitors and we got 84.94 points out of 100.

Questions at the cost event will be the manufacturing discussion outlined in the rules, and any issue the judges have with your report. We were done with the cost judging in under 10 minutes last year.

Questions at the business presentation will center around manufacturing, cost/profit anaylsis and obviously other business related aspects.

Thanks Jerry! I'm so new to this I guess I don't know which questions to ask. I've looked over the rules a few times and I was just wondering if anyone got any questions that seemed totally out of left field.

Started last saturday... plan on being done this Saturday... It's going slowly. Organized reciepts much better this year... should go fairly smoothly...